Women with scientific backgrounds and naturalist interests, as well as early conservation advocates, and remarkable contributors in their fields are highlighted here.
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- Anthropologist Frederica de Laguna (1906-2004) is considered a “towering figure, legendary in her own time,” which includes her contributions to the field of Alaska archeology, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/de-laguna-frederica.pdf
- The accomplishments of Celia Hunter and Ginny Wood are many, including establishing the 1952 wilderness lodge within today’s Denali National Park and Preserve, the founding of the Alaska Conservation Society and fighting to protect wilderness areas including passage of the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that protected over 100 million acres of federally managed lands.
Celia M. Hunter, a “cornerstone of the conservation movement in Alaska,” The Alaska Conservation Foundation at: https://alaskaconservation.org/about/people/history-founders/celia-hunter/
Ginny Wood- The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, at: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/commentators/4/
Ginny Wood’s slideshow at: https://jukebox.uaf.edu/site7/ginny-woods-slideshow
- Margaret (Mardy) Murie. In 1924, Mardy was the first woman to graduate from the University of Alaska. She is one of the most significant figures in Alaska’s conservation history - making major contributions to the passage of the Wilderness Act, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. http://todayinconservation.com/2017/08/august-18-margaret-murie-born-1902/
The Murie Ranch Historic District, Wyoming, is a designated National Historic Landmark, which includes recognition of Margaret (Mardy) Murie’s conservation contributions to the nation at: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/98001039_text
Murie Ranch, at: https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/murie.htm
- 11 Women Who Made Wilderness History, at:https://www.wilderness.org/articles/article/11-women-who-made-wilderness-history
- These 10 National Parks Wouldn’t Exist Without these Women, at: , https://www.npca.org/articles/1478-these-10-national-parks-wouldn-t-exist-without-women
- Leonie von Meusebach-Zesch, 20th-century practicing dentist who spent fifteen years in Alaska including travelling to remote communities. Listed in Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonie_von_Meusebach%E2%80%93Zesch
- Women in Science in the National Park Service, at: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/aknatureandscience/womeninscience.htm
Last updated: August 6, 2020